Getting started w/ VPN & general isp shennanigans

Hello Yall,

I plan on getting VPN service after I do a fresh install of windows.

After installing vpn, is anything further required to do in terms of browser settings like inputting a proxy or VPN ip into browser settings?

is there an ISP that is the lesser of all evils that doesn't discriminate against certain URLs? (live in Pacific Northwest)

is there a browser favored by the tek for PC systems? (other than chrome even though it's so easy because gmail, youtube, etc are all connected, trying to move away from google stuff)

pretty sure my isp ( comcast evil bastards) is sequentially cutting off service for legitimate, legal usage, for me at least. this has been going on several times a day for about 2+ months.

(i've used the same system at a different house with different router, modem and ISP, didn't have anything this frustrating happening there at that time.)

Now, I know there is a family laptop in the household which sometimes, someone uses for torrents, which if it were up to me i would never allow that on my connection, but i have no control over that.
Tried resetting router and modem often when this issue starts to occur, does nothing. (don't yell at me for not using nas, its not my house, not my choice)
i use wired connection on a desktop

I'll be home alone, with no other computers turned on, just playing some PC multiplayer games; barley using any bandwidth, then BAM! i loose connection randomly.

Also,


About a minute after downloading most files over 1 gig, the little yellow hazard symbol on the internet tray icon appears.
when looking at the network tab in task manager, it's an abrupt drop to 0 down, in what seems like an instant.

the connection usually comes back on again after 1 to 5 minutes.

It is not just during 'peak hour usage' it will happen anytime of any day, noon, 8pm or 4am.

I bought 7+ gig game on steam recently and the connection went out sequentially, off for a few minutes and back on for a few minutes. got roughly 300kbs for that download.

or downloading small files, like patches or mods for older games no bigger than 1.5 gigs and it goes from over 1mb/s to dead 0 within seconds.

for one download specifically, a mod for a game i was trying to download, only 1.2 gigs,
It reaches a dead 0 for down speed but am still able to connect to websites for a short time before i loose connection entirely.
(used two different mirrors, downloads failed for both after a matter of minutes)
tried using chrome and IE
(finally was able to finish downloading mod using IE after 3 or 4 connection outages at 3mbs.

is this consistent with packet sniffing, or shoving all the traffic down one cluttered port?

or could it be something else such as the ISP deciding what content to let through to my end?

I notice on using ip chicken that the remote port changes with almost every refresh and visit, is this normal?

this is becoming unbearable. the isp charges went from roughly 65 usd, to at or above 100 usd in a single month, and the service is only getting crappier.

I intend to switch ISPs ASAP aswell, i need to convince the owner of my home to switch.

we pay for connection speed about 30 to 40 mbps for down.
the highest i've ever seen down speed peak was about 6 or 7 mb/s.

let me know what you guise think about this, id appreciate to have as much input as possible.

thanks.

Well, if you pay for 30-40mbps and get 300kb, than is surely ISP messing up with it.

I bet you will find magicas formula "up to 40mbps" which is why you dont get nearly what you pay for.

You can try CyberGhost VPN - its free (torrents dont work in free plan) and subscription costs $20 a year. You dont have to set up anything, just download their program and click the big button :)

Concerning browser, Im using Firefox with plugins: DoNotTrackMe, Ghostery, ADblock, HTTPS everywhere. Cryptocat for secure chat.

Id log into your modem (192.168.100.1) and check the signal strength and historical plots, if it has that functionality. It sounds like you may just have a bad line. 

if not, call Comcast and have them check the strength and modem status history. If the modem is going offline sporadically, they have record of it. And have a line tech sent out if there are abnormalities.

 

What you can do first:

check all coax cables in your connection from where it comes into the house all the way to the modem. Are they loose? Also, are there splitters in that line? And if so, can you remove it?

hey ken, totaly forgot about logging into modems , derp. took some screen shots of the logs and etc on the modem page if anyone thinks that can help trouble shoot...

everything was nominal on status tab, then i tried to look at the signal tab, i lost connection before it could load this was during a another steam download. webpage unavalible came up, couldn't reload the modem page until connection came back on.

So i'm thinking it could be the router, its an old lynksys hunk of junk, probably has bad circuitry.